Afro-Arabs

Afro-Arabs are community groups of Africans who have been assimilated into the Arab culture (Islam, dressing customs, speaking the Arabic language, etc.), are of mixed black and Arab blood, or both. There are various origins for the Afro-Arabs: most Afro-Arabs in North Africa are descended from Berbers who were assimilated into the Arabic culture; most Afro-Arabs in East Africa and the Swahili Coast are descended from Arab traders and local women; and most Afro-Arabs in Saudi Arabia and Yemen are descended from Africans enslaved by the caliphates. Leaders such as Omar al-Bashir, Anwar Sadat, and Muammar Gaddafi are Afro-Arabs, being a part of the Arab culture and - in the case of Sadat and Bahir - being of mixed African and Arab descent (Gaddafi was an Arabized Berber). Most live on the Swahili Coast, in Mauritania, and Sudan.